LAB31

We’ve been digging into increasingly advanced GPTs and today is no exception. By name, it’s an Erasure Poet, but it’s really a complex system that takes in an text passage, analyzes it in great detail, plans out the best way to approach writing the poem, applies that learning to craft a draft, evaluates the draft and decide what needs to be optimizes, applies those optimizations, then outputs a final, polished version of the poem – all in a single response.

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Got to give another shoutout to the excellent systems thinking of Nerority for helping us understand this shiny new tool in our toolbox. Sometimes GPT feels like we’re using a knife as a screwdriver. But there are days it feels like we’re firing up a power drill. (Fine, a slightly erratic power drill that needs to be recharged a lot. But still.)

Okay let’s dig in. Because NOBODY on our feed can stop talking about the ding-dang Solo Stove debacle, we decided to use an excerpt from Fernando Machado’s AdAge article about Solo Stove and the attack on creativity as our starting text:

“I wish I could predict absolutely everything. I wish I could measure absolutely everything. I dream of a world with perfect attribution. (I am joking, I dream of other things.) Anyway, the best creative I’ve seen, the creative that has driven the best brand and business results, would not go hand on hand with what most smart, experienced, logical, safe people would have done. And that’s not easy to accept or to believe in. I am not saying all crazy, different, wild creative is good. There is some weird stuff out there, too. But when the positioning of the brand is clear, when the brief is clear (including the target audience), when the objective you are trying to accomplish is clear (and sometimes the objective is not short-term sales), and when the creative connects properly with all of the above, the results tend to be superior. I keep hearing things like, “We need every dollar to work harder,” which basically means, “I just care about short-term sales.” As if CMOs were there just doing self-indulgent work or work to win awards. I don’t know any CMO who gets a bonus if revenue and profit are not there. But most CMOs also know they need to nurture the brand. And that sometimes goes beyond short-term sales or short-term profit.”

We pasted it in and the Erasure poet went to town. All of the outputs below are from inside the python environment, not in the main chatgpt response.

First the Erasure Poet analyzes the original text, pulling out themes, assumptions, and nuances.

# Analyzing the text to understand its overarching themes, assumptions, and nuances.
# The analysis will focus on identifying key themes and underlying messages.

# Themes: The text likely revolves around themes like marketing strategy, brand positioning, and the tension between creativity and practical business goals.

# Assumptions: The text assumes that creativity in marketing does not always align with logical or safe strategies but can lead to superior results. It also suggests a misunderstanding or underappreciation of the role of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in balancing short-term sales with long-term brand nurturing.

# Nuances: The text reflects a nuanced understanding of marketing where the effectiveness of a creative approach is contingent on its alignment with clear objectives, brand positioning, and audience understanding. It also highlights the struggle between the need for immediate sales results and the importance of long-term brand development.

{
    "themes": ["marketing strategy", "brand positioning", "creativity vs practicality"],
    "assumptions": ["Creativity often diverges from logical strategies", "Misunderstanding of CMOs' roles"],
    "nuances": ["Effectiveness of creative approaches", "Balance between short-term sales and long-term brand development"]
}

Then it uses that analysis to decide what it wants the theme of its poem to be:

# Erasure Poem Theme Selection based on the Deep Text Analysis Results

# The deep text analysis revealed themes of marketing strategy, brand positioning, and the tension between creativity and practicality. It also highlighted assumptions about creativity diverging from logical strategies and misunderstandings about CMOs' roles, as well as nuances regarding the effectiveness of creative approaches and balancing short-term sales with long-term brand development.

# Based on these insights, a transformative theme for the erasure poem could focus on the tension between creativity and pragmatism in marketing, emphasizing the underappreciated role of creativity in achieving long-term success. This theme can provide a commentary on the often-overlooked importance of innovative thinking in a field dominated by immediate results and conventional wisdom.

# Selected Theme: "The Unseen Power of Creative Thinking in Marketing"

{
    "selected_theme": "The Unseen Power of Creative Thinking in Marketing"
}

Now that it’s settled on the theme, it decides how it’s going to tackle writing the first draft of the poem.

# Draft Erasure Poem Planning for the theme "The Unseen Power of Creative Thinking in Marketing"

# Given the selected theme, the draft erasure poem will aim to highlight the contrast between conventional marketing strategies and the transformative power of creativity. The poem will be crafted by selectively erasing parts of the original text to emphasize this theme.

# Planning Steps:
# 1. Identify phrases that directly speak to the power and impact of creativity in marketing.
# 2. Look for statements that contrast conventional wisdom with creative approaches.
# 3. Select words and phrases that highlight the underappreciated role of creativity.
# 4. Erase parts of the text that focus on short-term sales and pragmatic strategies to emphasize the long-term value of creative thinking.
# 5. Ensure the selected words and phrases flow coherently to form a compelling narrative about the power of creativity.

# The goal is to leave behind a poem that speaks to the theme "The Unseen Power of Creative Thinking in Marketing" using only the words from the original text, arranged in a way that tells a new, powerful story.

{
    "planning_steps": [
        "Identify phrases about creativity's impact",
        "Contrast conventional wisdom with creativity",
        "Highlight the underappreciated role of creativity",
        "Erase focus on short-term sales for long-term creativity emphasis",
        "Ensure coherent narrative on creativity's power"
    ]
}

Now it goes to work, writing a first draft of the poem.

# Applying the planning steps to craft the draft erasure poem
# The poem will be constructed by erasing parts of the text to highlight the selected theme

# Step 1: Identify phrases about creativity's impact
# Step 2: Contrast conventional wisdom with creativity
# Step 3: Highlight the underappreciated role of creativity
# Step 4: Erase focus on short-term sales for long-term creativity emphasis
# Step 5: Ensure coherent narrative on creativity's power

# Creating the draft erasure poem
erasure_poem_draft = """
I dream of a world, 
the best creative I’ve seen, 
not hand in hand with what is logical, safe.

All crazy, different, wild creative,
the positioning of the brand clear,
the objective clear,
the creative connects,
results superior.

“We need every dollar to work harder,”
but CMOs nurture the brand,
beyond short-term sales, 
short-term profit.
"""

# This draft erasure poem focuses on the theme of creativity's transformative power in marketing, contrasting it with conventional, short-term strategies.

Oh but we’re not done yet! Because it’s optimization time, babes. It first decides the steps it needs to take to optimize the poem:

# The draft erasure poem is ready, but it needs to be optimized. The optimization will ensure that the poem not only uses words from the original text but also maintains coherence and emotional resonance.

# Optimization Planning Steps:
# 1. Verify that each word or phrase in the poem is directly taken from the original text without alteration.
# 2. Check the flow and coherence of the poem to ensure it reads smoothly and conveys the theme effectively.
# 3. Enhance emotional resonance by refining the arrangement of words and phrases to better capture the essence of the theme.
# 4. Ensure that the poem maintains a consistent tone and style, aligning with the theme of the transformative power of creativity in marketing.
# 5. Make final adjustments to word placement for maximum impact and clarity, keeping the essence of erasure poetry intact.

# The goal is to refine the draft into an optimized erasure poem that powerfully conveys "The Unseen Power of Creative Thinking in Marketing."

{
    "optimization_planning_steps": [
        "Verify direct use of original text words",
        "Check flow and coherence",
        "Enhance emotional resonance",
        "Maintain consistent tone and style",
        "Adjust word placement for impact and clarity"
    ]
}

Then it does just that:

# Applying the optimization planning steps to refine the draft poem

# Step 1: Ensure all words are from the original text
# Step 2: Improve flow and coherence
# Step 3: Enhance emotional resonance
# Step 4: Keep a consistent tone and style
# Step 5: Fine-tune word placement for clarity and impact

# Optimizing the erasure poem
optimized_poem = """
I dream, 
the best creative seen, 
not with what is logical, safe.

Crazy, different, wild,
positioning clear,
objective clear,
creative connects,
results superior.

Dollars work harder,
CMOs nurture,
beyond short-term.
"""

# This optimized poem maintains the original words and phrases while enhancing coherence, emotional resonance, and clarity, focusing on the theme of creativity's power in marketing.

And then finally — it presents the poem in the main chat with a nice little bolded flourish.

Is this the best erasure poem on the planet? No.

Is it coherent, tied to the original, logical consistent, and in line with the chosen theme? It kinda is.

Is watching GPT analyze, plan, execute, critique, and iterate in real time the coolest fucking thing? Hell yeah.